Whose youth romance story begins with a witch's trial?!

Chang Rong looked at the group of prospective witches who had become exceptionally enthusiastic, and couldn't help but feel uneasy. Had the pie she had just promised been too tempting? The level of enthusiasm these people were displaying made her feel that if she said now, "Battle Royale is too difficult to achieve, let's forget about it," she would be devoured by them in the next second…

Although she had some regrets, at this point, both the humans watching from outside Witch Island and the group of eager prospective witches in front of her were forcing Chang Rong to continue. She had no choice but to grit her teeth and keep going.

So, after briefly introducing the essence and rules of the so-called 'Battle Royale' to everyone, and finalizing the implementation method and making the relevant props, everyone gathered together to draw lots to confirm their initial positions.

"Hmph... I won't say it's a package deal, but it's absolutely a must-have." Hiro said with a sneer, holding the note.

"I'll remind you of the fear of being dominated by a lone wolf." Nanoha Kaori tugged at her cycling hat.

"Can you withstand our whispers?" Natsume Anan sneered and chuckled coldly.

"Hehehe, as long as I take everyone down, Watson will be mine, right? Simple, simple~~!" Tachibana Sherry raised her left fist and said.

Immediately, everyone was eager to try, wishing they could just stand there and explode with their best friends.

"This situation... could it really be a problem...?" Chang Rong was a little flustered by everyone's excessively high desire to participate.

"Um, although I still can't use restoration magic right now, I can still do simple healing... If anything unexpected happens, please remember to contact me immediately, and I'll rush over to help..." Ice Meluru timidly raised her hand. Although she also had a strong desire to participate in the competition, she would still help out as a part-time battlefield medic to prevent these best friends from actually doing something as drastic as faking their death.

After receiving additional medical sponsorship from the venue provider, before the battle royale competition officially began for the 'one-time use right to Chang Rong', Chang Rong noticed that Ze Du Ke Ke's expression was slightly serious.

"—It's okay, Coco-chan. Those are all things of the past, aren't they? Besides, you did those things to protect me back then, so there's no need to keep blaming yourself, right, Coco-chan?"

Chang Rong ruffled Ze Du Ke Ke's hair, and the latter blinked and nodded at Chang Rong.

"Onii-chan... yeah, you're right, I have to work hard too. I absolutely can't let Onii-chan fall into the clutches of others... especially that guy Heero...!"

The somewhat serious expression on Ze Du Coco's face relaxed considerably after being stroked. The little streamer at the bottom clenched her fists to change her mood, preparing to work hard for stealing food... and to protect her Onii-chan.

After confirming that everything was in order, the group began the first Witch Island Battle Royale competition, which was held to deceive the humans.

Everyone has a reason not to lose! Everyone has a reason to live no matter what! Because—there's only one trophy!

"【Coo coo coo... Well, everyone has arrived at their starting positions, and this battle royale competition has officially begun. Coo coo... Even though I'm working overtime, seeing such an interesting scene makes working overtime once in a while not so bad...】"

The warden's voice blared from the loudspeaker, announcing the start of the brutal and spectacular battle royale.

"Uh... this is indeed my spawn point... but isn't this starting point a bit too high?"

In the basement, Chang Rong sat in front of a bunch of control panels, muttering to himself that his 'spawn point' had been coming back a bit too often lately. He had just retrieved the ritual sword, and before he knew it, he was back here again.

But then again... why did the ceremony fail? Was it really due to some error in Marge's translation?

Chang Rong vaguely felt that there must be another reason why the previous witch summoning ritual failed, the most important reason being Bao Sheng Mag's attitude.

As Marge had previously stated, so-called fraudulent gambling largely depends on how well one understands the individuals involved. And at least in Chang Rong's understanding, Marge appears frivolous but is actually very rigorous and meticulous in her work.

So, would Mag really lead everyone through the ritual without fully translating and understanding the content? Or was the failure of the ritual part of Mag's original plan...?

Hmm...it seems I'll have to talk to Mag when I have time. This matter is of great importance; it even determines whether everyone can successfully leave Witch Island, so it must be taken seriously.

Beep beep beep—!

However, what we need to take seriously right now is the upcoming battle!

Chang Rong quickly brought his thoughts back. Although in reality, as long as everyone created a scenario of mutual slaughter and hair-pulling to fool everyone, it would be fine. But he was a Sigma man, and there was no reason for him to surrender without a fight in such a battle!

What's more, if I lose, the price I'll have to pay is completely unknown... Hehe, I must survive!

Chang Rong glanced at her beeping phone; the beeping sound indicated that there were other prospective witches nearby.

The phones distributed to everyone originally did not have this function; the alarm/dragon ball radar/emperor's heartbeat-like function was actually something the warden made up on the spot.

Unexpectedly, in this place, another strange problem that no one had paid attention to was solved—where did the software on everyone's phones on Witch Island come from?

For example, Chang Rong initially thought that the chat software 'Prison Space', which is an independent network, was customized by the human side, since someone as technologically inept as Meruru could not be relied upon.

So it turns out the warden created it based on his needs... The warden is truly powerful!

Beep beep beep—beep beep beep—

The battle royale alarm sounded a few more times, confirming that there were indeed other prospective witches nearby, but their identities could not be directly determined.

Chang Rong took the elevator from the underground control room, preparing to go up to the upper level to prepare for the battle.

Although it's a game, it's not something to be taken lightly. Even for the sake of 'realism,' the more serious you are, the better the effect.

Chang Rong believes that most prospective witches are capable of fighting on their own, except for a very few witches who are indeed unable to compete with them on their own stats.

After all, one's own body isn't all-powerful; in most cases, it still needs to be activated.

Among the relatively difficult prospective witches to deal with, Nikaido Hiro and Kurobe Nanoha are the two that Chang Rong least wants to encounter. These two have very high base stats and both have 'combat experience,' making them extremely troublesome opponents.

However, such characters are generally the type who sit in the final rounds as bosses, so I don't need to worry about running into them as soon as I step out.

Ding!

As the elevator doors opened, Chang Rong, who was thinking this, met the eyes of a girl at the far end of the corridor.

The girl had just climbed down the hidden staircase when she blinked, also momentarily stunned by the presence of the white-haired boy who made a dazzling appearance from the elevator.

After a few seconds of eye contact—

boom! !

"Whoa!?"

Wearing a cycling hat, the black-haired twin-tailed girl, Kurobe Nanoha, suddenly took the long gun off her back, aimed it at Chang Rong, and pulled the trigger.

With a soft thud, the bullet grazed Chang Rong's cheek, struck the elevator door, and exploded, releasing a mysterious crimson liquid.

"You just opened fire without even saying hello, Nanoha!?"

"We are enemies, there is no need or meaning in greeting each other."

Nanoha Kurobe responded coolly, tugging at her cycling cap, while raising her long gun, aiming at the elevator as she slowly approached.

"Damn it... This isn't the first time I've said this, but I still want to say it—why are there people using rifles in the knife battle room of Werewolf Battle Royale?! Even using a pistol... no, no, even a pistol would be super awesome!"

boom! !

As Chang Rong loudly complained, he lunged forward and rolled from the side of the elevator. The second bullet grazed his waist and hit the inner wall of the elevator again. Although it was extremely dangerous, Chang Rong managed to get back to the control panel.

"Hurry...hurry up, even faster! Close the door to death!"

Chang Rong kept banging on the elevator's close button and the floor button leading to the underground freezer, while Naoya Kaori's pace quickened as she sprinted towards the elevator.

Boom!

Finally, just before Nanoha rushed into the elevator, the doors closed successfully and began to descend once more.

I never expected to encounter the most troublesome sniper right from the start…! This is truly a hellish start in the literal sense, damn it…

Back in the basement, Chang Rong complained and pondered what to do, as all she had on her was the default fruit knife she had been given as a weapon.

Is there anything more despairing than facing a Malay sword with a seal dagger? Some brothers know the answer: it's when you jump out with a seal dagger, only to find that your opponent is holding a fire unicorn.

Since things have come to this, I can only try to hide for now, but unfortunately, Nanoha Kaori is an intelligence-training witch with illusion magic, so I probably can't hide forever... Wait, illusion?

Chang Rong suddenly remembered a phrase that Milia often said: "When you're in a desperate situation, just reverse your thinking!"

Upon realizing this, Chang Rong's face instantly revealed a resolute look.

"Stop resisting, Chang Rong. You have no chance of winning."

Meanwhile, Kurobe Nanoha also took the elevator to the basement. She cautiously carried her spear, constantly searching for safe spots before slowly advancing.

"I'm prepared this time, Chang Rong. My older sister said that passively waiting won't get any results, so... I've decided to win this time, and then... try to be more proactive."

As Kurobe Nanoha Kaori searched for points, she spoke, and soon arrived at the control room.

The control room door was tightly closed, and there was no space to hide. It looked like a secret room with only one path, and Chang Rong just disappeared inexplicably.

However, Kurobe Nanoha immediately noticed the ventilation duct that had been lifted in the corner. She snorted, put the cumbersome long gun aside, took out the pistol from her waist, put her hands on the edge of the ventilation duct, and climbed up into the duct with her legs kicking.

“You can’t escape, Chang Rong. I possess the ability to see through illusions, allowing me to clearly track your every move—”

Nanaka Kurobe followed the ventilation duct to the freezer. The freezer was much larger than the control room, and it was filled with jars, cabinets and ice blocks, making it a perfect hiding place.

Nanoha Kaori gripped the pistol in one hand and slowly touched the ground with the other, trying to read Chang Rong's traces using illusion magic.

And Naoka quickly found a clue; she saw a cell phone lying on the floor.

"Is it a trap... or did you fall in by accident while running away in a panic? In any case, I won't fall for it. You've been cornered and are now a rabbit on the chopping block, Chang Rong."

Nanoha Kurobe was about to pick up her phone to think about the reason, but the moment her finger touched the phone, the [Vision] magic was activated.

In her magical vision, the phone's owner, Chang Rong, was holding the phone, repeatedly shouting the same sentence over and over again—

"You're so cute, you're so adorable, I really want to hold you in my arms and rub you against me, I love you, let me hold you..."

"Ugh... Waaaaah... What, what is this..."

Just moments ago, Kurobe Nanoha had been looking cool and aloof, but now her cheeks were flushed crimson. She stood there, her face red, completely immersed in the world of illusion.

Just then, a dark figure slowly appeared behind her. A wicked smile played on the figure's lips as it approached Kurobe Nanoha step by step, raising a gleaming blade high in its hand—

Pfft!

In an instant, bright red liquid gushed from behind Kurobe Nanoha. The girl's face was filled with utter astonishment and shock as she collapsed into a pool of blood. Until her last moment, she couldn't understand how all of this had happened, and could only let the crimson liquid take away her last remaining consciousness...

A few seconds later, Kurobe Nanoka quickly got up from the ground.

"Wha...what happened...um, I...I...was I hacked in the back?"

Nanoha Kaori, who had turned into a little red person, got up from the ground. She kept blinking, her face showing confusion and bewilderment, like a cat that had accidentally gotten lost.

"The props Noah prepared were actually quite effective... I almost thought I had actually poked them in..."

Chang Rong blinked and looked at the fruit knife in her hand that was 'spurting blood'. The 'kill effect' just now was something Noah had prepared in advance using magic among the props. Judging from the actual effect, it was indeed so realistic that it could be mistaken for a fake at first glance.

"As for Nanoha Kaori, there's only one reason for your defeat—you relied too much on illusion magic!" After confirming that Nanoha Kaori was still alive and kicking, Chang Rong sneered, pointed at Kurobe Nanoha Kaori, and said loudly.

"Ugh...!!"

Pointed at by Chang Rong, Kurobe Nanoha Kaori, who had been killed with a single stab from behind and left the stage with regret, showed an adorable expression of resentment and sulking.

“I discovered during our previous mine-clearing operation that although the triggering of illusion magic is sometimes unstable, it generally prioritizes reading ‘strong emotions’. So as long as you apply a strong emotion to an object, you can likely control the first image that illusion magic reads. This characteristic is perfect for using as bait.”

Chang Rong explained the basic principles of illusion to Kurobe Nanoha, and after hearing this, the latter's expression became even more unwilling, but she quickly thought of something and shyly tugged at her cycling helmet.

"So... what you said back then, Chang Rong, was indeed true for me..."

"It's about this photo—look, isn't it really cute? I really want to hug and cuddle it!"

Chang Rong opened a picture and handed it to Kurobe Nanoha. The picture showed a black cat stretching in a flower field.

"cat……?"